How should I answer the questions interviewers typically ask?

If the interviewer does a good job telling you about the
opening, you may find yourself with few remaining questions. So
what should you ask about, and what should you say?

Q. I never know what to say when the interviewer says,
"Tell me about yourself" or asks, "Do you have any questions
for me?" Most of the time I don't, because the interviewer
has given a good description.

Then there's "What are your salary requirements?" I know you
should not discuss pay, but how do you get around it without
sounding really bad?

A. To get a good idea of the job you are interviewing
for, ask what expectations and objectives the supervisor or
manager has in mind. You may also want to know the scope of
responsibility of the job, and whom are you expected to
interact with to get the job done. These questions will give
you some indication of how the job is expected to function in
the organization.

In addition to finding out details about the job, ask your
peers or prospective coworkers. For instance, what are their
current responsibilities? What projects have they been
working on? What kind of support and/or resources do they
receive to complete their projects? Once you have a good
sense of how the department functions and what is expected of
you, then you can talk about salary.

Finally, if the company uses pay grades to administer
salaries, ask the interviewer where you would fall in the
range. Also ask what has been the average merit increase over
the past two years. This will give you some idea of what to
expect in terms of annual increases when you join the
company.

Ask about incentive plans. If you feel the company doesn't
offer a competitive base salary or competitive merit
increases, try to negotiate an incentive plan that will meet
your overall salary requirements.

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